Murray’s Skydive Kicks Off Festival

Actor Bill Murray kicked off the festivities for Illinois’ 50th Annual Chicago Air and Water Show 2008 on Friday in spectacular fashion — he performed a skydive in front of the packed crowd.

The star, 57, executed a tandem jump with The Golden Knights, the U.S. Army’s parachute team, on Friday afternoon, much to the delight of the audience.

Before jumping, Murray said: “I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be.”

He then hurled himself off the plane and descended in a free fall for almost one minute before pulling off a number of spins with his expert guide.

The pair banked over a sea of water before coming in to make a perfect landing on North Avenue Beach.

But the star later admitted the experience was an exhilarating one: “That was really fun. That was really fun. Thank you.”

He joked, “It’s a quiet return to public life. It was 120 miles per hour, and I was laughing as I was falling. But just before, I was tearing up a little bit, thinking, ‘Oh, not another stupid mistake.’ But it was really fun, and it was quite a kick.”